Beating-engine.



' A. MUIRHEAD.

BBATING ENGINE.

` APPLICATION FILED BBPT.18, 1907. 909,642. .Patented Jan. 12, 1909.

2 SHEETS-:SHEET 1.

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A. MUIRHEAD. BEATING ENGINE.

. Patented Jan.12,1909- ZISHFETS-SHBAET 2. l

necessitating shutting down ANDREW MUIRHEAD, or BRADFORD, MASSACHUSETTS.

BEATING-E NGINE Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 12, 1909.

Application filed September 18, 1907. Serial No. S93/84.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, ANDREW MUTRHED, of Bradford, county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, have -invented an Improvement 'in Beating-Engines, of whichV the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

In starting a grinding operation in an ordinary horizontal p lp beater, the vat is rst ordinarily partly fi led with water and a certain quantity of the -material to be ground is thrown into the vat. Whilerotation of the roll induces a circular How aboutl the midfeather after a certain uantity of the material has been ground sufficiently to flow, yet, until this takes place, no appreciable tiow is caused by the roll, the water carried under the roll being mostly lifted by the blades and carried up, over the roll, So that it falls back in front of it.

In the manufacture of pa er box boardl and similar material, various orrns of waste paper are extensively employed, and material of this nature is necessarily placed in the vat of theA beater in large bunches or bundles, which usually float on the surface of. the water -ntil they are disintegrated. Much diliiculty is experienced at the beginning of the operation in causing the roll to break up' these bunches, so that t ey will pass beneath it,lfor the reason that there is' no current to carry them in contact with the roll, and no means for holdingthem in contact with the roll until they become disintegrated, after they are moved in contact therewith. Furthermore, the water which is carried up over the roll tends to drive these floating bunches away from the roll, as it falls back into the vat. It, therefore, has usually been necessary for the beatertender to push the material into engagement with the roll, or hold the bunches against it until they are partly disintegrated, so that, during the first part of the operation, constant pushing of these bunches under the roll is necessary in order to start and maintain the circulation. It furthermore often happens thatmthe paddle, or implement which is used in performing this operation, is caught under the roll and carried beneath it, thereby often times causing damage and the machine and raising the rollA so as tc remove the paddleL .Y

The object of my invention is to, provide being provided with a solid a pulp-beater with means whereby the first part of a beating operation ma begreatly facilitated, and the rapidity o1 circulation throughout the operation may be increased, so that the time required to grind a charge may be in a large measure reduced, and further, to provide means whereby the use of a paddle, or similar implement for causing the material to pass over the bed, will not be required. I accomplish this object by r1'0- vicling the tub of the beater with a de ecting, and supporting apron which will act to venable the roll toinduce a rapid flow of water to itself immediately on starting, so'

that the bunches of material will be automatically conducted into engagement with r the roll, and when once engaged by the roll, will be held in engagement therewith until they are carried over the bed late and thus disintegrated, the water falling down in front of the roll not only being prevented from impeding the movement to the roll,`but even being caused to assist the feeding action. I accomplish these objects by the means shown in the accompanying draw ing, in which,

Figure l is a plan view of a beating engine provided with my invention. Fie. 2 is an enlargedv sectional View on the line 2-2 of Fig. l.

The form of beating engine shown is of the ordinary horizontal type in which the vat a is rovided with the usual midfeather'b, an a roll c, havinga series of projecting blades c therein, is mounted to rotate between tlle midfeather and one side of the vat directly over the bed knives d. The usual back fall e is also provided and the roll rotated in the direction of the arrow in F ig. 2, so that the stock fiows around in the vat in the direction of the arrows in Fig. 1.

According to 'my invention I provide, closely adjacent and beneath the intake side ofthe roll, a pulp supporting apron f, which extends longitudinally from the midfeuther to the side and transversely from the bottom of the vat, at a point some distance in front of the roll, upwardly and rearwardly to a point a short distance in front of avertical tangcnt to the roll and then downwardly and rearwardly to the bed knives, approximately on a level with the edges thereof. VSaid apron is preferably con- Structed of a metal plate f', bent trans- Versely into the required shape, said plate wood` support Y L `side thereof next the roll extends rearwardly so arranged -withrelation to the Vbottom of thevat that the surfaces thereofv are prac-y tically continuous and no obstructionis pre--l sented to prevent'the free flow of liquid from lthe bottoml onto the plate. The middle portion of the plate is convex, and its sides are revers'ely` curved Jat the middle portion thereof, so that thelower lportions are .concaved, the extent of concavity on the front side. being' merely sudicient to provide an curve up` from the bottom of the vat an thatl at therear side corresponding to the curvature of the particular roll in connection with v vhich it is used, and approaching thecurvel of the path of the edges of the roll knives, so that the portion adjacent its rear edge is approximately concentric to said path. 1 i

The convex portion of the plate on the beneaththe roll, approximately half the dis# tance to the bed'knives,-and to within a short distance of the roll, at which point Vit is reversely curved to coliform nearly to the curvature of the. roll, and extends downwardly closely adjacent and constantly nearer thereto, so that the lower portion of the plate is approximately concentric therewith, as above stated, and a stoclr supporting surface is provided which declines from its highest point until it reaches the bed knives. A constantly declining, stock supporting apron is thus provided beneath and 1n close proximity to the roll for a distance in front thereof, from the bed knives, 'of

fullyhalf the radius of the-roll. The hed knives may, in practice, extend slightly above the level of the .plate at its'lower inner end, so that the bed. knives may be worn down to some extent, without having Vthe roll blades strike theoplate or apron. The

depth of the tub at the highest point of theV plate is somewhat greater' than one-half the normal depth of the'vat and preferably approximately three-fourths thereof.

In practice, the vat is ordinarily about half filled with water before starting so that the plate ,f is submerged to some depth. As the roll rotates, the water in the space between the roll and the rear inclined side of the plate or portieri thereof next the roll,

will be rapidly drawn therefrom by theV blades of the roll, causing a rapid flow over the plate and down the back side thereof to lill said space.

The rapid flow 'or pressure thus created will' carry or force the material `to theA ground, which, as before stated, ordinarily Heats, when lirst placed in the vat, over the highest part ot' the plate, and down between the saine and the roll, until it is drawn into engagement with the ltnives of the roll, Snllicent pulp, or partly thus oiled over the that theordinary circulation will Vcarry itl up over the highest part.

Some of the more important functions Y performed by the apron are to create a rapid liow of the liquid at its surface, towards and closely adjacent the front side of the roll, so that the material will be drawn rapidly thereto, even though there is no circulation in the vat, and the material may be floating some distance from the roll, fand, also, to direct the bunches of material against the roll knives at points some distance from the bed knives and hold them in contact therewith until they have been snil" ciently torn apart to permit them to pass between the roll and bed.

' As the bunches of stock are torn apart they are also positively carried down on vthe apron until they are finally delivered onto the bed, the apron approaching the roll as the bunches are made smaller, so that it acts vto hold them constantly in engagement with the roll from the time when they are first engaged until they arel disintegrated and carried over rthe bed. The apron istherefore adapted and arranged to prevent the stock from moving out of envagement with the roll after it has once been engaged, thereby,as would be the caseif any Yconsiderable space were rovided between the roll and the bottom o the channel which leads to the bed, as is customary.

y The necessity of using a' paddle t0 hold the rio bunches of material against the roll vuntil e they are disintegrated 1s therefore obvated, although, if it shouldbecome necessary to use a paddle for any nrpose, as to force the bunches over the p ate, it may be done without risk of having the paddle caught he Vtween the roll and bed knives, the plate being disposed so as to support the end of the paddle and prevent such occurrences.

The plate does not materially reduce the cubical contents of the vat, and, as it practically insures as rapid feeding of the material to the roll as is desirable, the production. of the beater is materially increased, in addition to eliminating the hand labor above referred to,

The Water which is carried up over the roll endrfnlls back into the vat in front pr: 'elv all Falls behind the luglinon or the plate, and thus aids m roll, so that they may I claim as new andl desire to secure by Let* ters Patent is l. In combination with the roll and bed ot a pulp beater, deleetii'ig means for conducting the stock to a substantial elevation above the level of the bed and closely adjacent the roll, at the intake side thereof, so that it. will be under the feeding action ofthe roll blades, and a declining apron disposed to receive the stock at its upper end from said deflecting, means and extending downwardlj,7 to the bed convergently with the path of the roll blades, to provide a gradually tapering` space in which bunches of the stock will be held in engagement With the be torn apart as they are forced down the apron to the bed, substantially described.

2. In combination with the roll and 'bed of a pulp beater, an inclined stock-supporting apron at the intake side of the roll having a concaved lower portion and a convex upper portion, said apron extending upwardly from the level et' the bed divergently with relation to the path of the roll blades to a substantial elevation above the bed and beneath the roll and in suliiciently close proximity thereto to hold the stock Linder the feeding action oi the roll-biades, and means for deliverii'ig the stock to the upper end of said apron, substantially as described.

3. A pulp beater having a stock deiecting apron'extending from the bottoni of the vat towards the roll, at its intake side, to a substantial elevation above the level of the bed and closely adjacent a vertical tangent to the roll, and then downwardly, and convergently with the roll, to the bed at the level thereof, the declining portion of the apron next the roll being arranged in sufficiently close proximity to the roll, adjacent its up-v per end, to hold the bunches of stock in engagei'nent, with the roll and to provide a gradually tapering space in which said bunches are torn apart while they are being carried down to the bed, substantially asv described. In testimony whereof, name to this specification, two subscribing witnesses,

ANDREW' MUIRI-IEAD.

I have signed my in the presence of lVitnes'ses L. H. HARRIMAN, H. B. Davis. 

